Trumbull County hirings reveal skewed priorities

It's a good thing that Trumbull County voters aren't being asked to approve a county sales tax in November. They would respond with a resounding no. The decision by commissioners to hire four new maintenance workers, including a former fire chief, while the sheriff's department doesn't have enough deputies to provide adequate patrols in the northern townships shows just how skewed their priorities are.
What is even more disconcerting is that in justifying the hirings, Commissioner James Tsagaris made a shocking admission: He said he didn't know the sheriff's department was 25 people short of the authorized strength of 143 officers and jailers.
"They didn't even tell me they were down," Tsagaris said. "I thought they had as many people as they ever had."
Doesn't Tsagaris read the regular budget reports? Did he forget that two years ago Sheriff Thomas Altiere laid off corrections workers and had to transfer deputies to the jail, thus cutting back on road patrols?
And has the commissioner forgotten that about the same time the cutbacks occurred there was a rash of burglaries in the northern townships?
"I'd like to put a couple more deputies on the road, but we don't have the money," the sheriff said. "They [the commissioners] control the money."
Yes, the commissioners control the general fund purse strings, but as their decision to beef up the maintenance department shows, they can't be trusted to do the right thing.
Budget shortfall
Indeed, given that Trumbull County government is facing a $6 million shortfall next year because of a 0.5 percent sales tax the commissioners imposed in 2003 expiring, and given that voters have refused to renew it, adding to the payroll is nothing short of irresponsible.
County Auditor David Hines, who has been warning of the financial crisis for months, was obviously not consulted about the hirings, because this is how he reacted: "I don't know where they are going to get the money. I don't know how they are going to pay these people. I don't think it would be advisable, from a financial standpoint."
Where is the money going to come from to pay salaries and benefits -- more than $100,000 a year -- for James Nutt, the former Warren city fire chief and mayoral candidate, and the three others?
Incidentally, maintenance worker is a highfalutin moniker for janitor, which raises the question: Why hire someone who has already been on the public payroll? It seems that if looking after the county-owned buildings is more important than law enforcement, the commissioners would have conducted a formal search and hired individuals with janitorial experience -- who would not be double-dipping.
It doesn't matter that the four custodians have been told that layoffs next year are a real possibility and that they would be first to go. (A portion of their unemployment benefits would come out of the county treasury.)
Commissioners Angelo, Tsagaris and Polivka did the wrong thing in hiring them. If there are buildings that need to be maintained, they should have asked the 20-member maintenance staff to do more -- as a sign of their dedication and loyalty to the taxpayers.